Some Republicans break rank in Wednesday vote

Many people have criticized President Joe Biden’s administration in recent weeks because of how the baby formula shortage is being handled.

From letter writers to GOP leaders, everyone seems to have an opinion on what should be done and how parents can deal with the shortage.

But when put to a vote, it was evident that not all House GOP leaders used their vote to support their criticism.

A vote on whether to provide $28 million in aid to the Food and Drug Administration to address the shortage of baby formula was on the table.

According to a Washington Post report, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Confer- ence Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY), all voted against the measure.

Despite their no votes, the House approved the measure on a largely party-line vote of 231 to 192.

A dozen Republicans broke ranks and joined the Democrats in backing the money.

We always hear “let your vote speak for you.” If this is any indication of the Republicans who voted against the measure following that edict, then we know where they really stand.

Or perhaps it’s one of those situations in which they want the issue to be solved, they just don’t want to have to allocate any money to fix it. If that’s the case, then they have no right to criticize their perceived notion that the Biden administration isn’t doing anything about the crisis.

A measure was presented, albeit a $28 million measure, and some Republicans refused to approve it. We want to know, if that wasn’t an acceptable solution, then what is?

It’s true, we can’t keep spending money that we don’t have, but sometimes other choices are limited or not seen as practical.

Apparently some Republicans agreed with the move and that’s why they broke ranks and joined the Democrats in a bipartisan vote.

Too bad that can’t happen more often. Perhaps if it did, together, they could figure out ways to solve issues that wouldn’t involve spending billions.